August 01, 2013

I'm in a book club. Well, several actually, but the one that met yesterday at my house is known for being more about drinking wine than deep book discussions. We hadn't met for a while, so I decided to invite everyone over for a meetup that skipped the book altogether this time and instead focused on doing a book and clothing exchange. As an added incentive, I offered to drop off any leftover books or garments at Goodwill.

Before my six guests arrived, I made a batch of hummus and a dozen summer rolls with fresh herbs and melon, accompanied by a tamarind dipping sauce. Thank you, Pinterest!

The story about tracking down the ingredients for the dipping sauce could be its own blog post. In short, I never did find the tamarind paste the recipe called for, but I ended up substituting tamarind sauce from a box of Trader Joe's pakora and it seemed to turn out fine. Next time I'll order tamarind paste online in advance and make it the right way.

My guests brought summery white wines and margaritas, some sweet and savory treats and a few miscellaneous tradeable items in addition to the books and clothing that kept things interesting.

Of course we played with the foster kittens. It's good for them to be exposed to a variety of people, so I was glad to see them calm down after their initial trepidation when a crowd of women invaded their space and insisted on snuggling them...twice.

This group does a round-robin method with the offered clothing items. Each person holds up a garment or two, announces the size, makes a few comments about fit and why they're giving it away, and the first person to express an interest gets it. From time to time, the attendees break away to try things on, which sometimes frees up an item for someone else to claim. Certain items are modeled for the group to help the chooser decide. I'm pretty sure I recall Spyder telling me my ass looked great in a particular pair of capris. It's that kind of crowd!

We've all done enough clothing exchanges together that some items come back through again after a wearing or two. We gain weight, we lose weight, and it's nice to be able to pass things along to friends so everyone gets a refreshed wardrobe without spending a dime.

Everything about the evening was delightful. We all ended up with some nice "new" articles of clothing and passed along garments we no longer wanted. Of the table full of books, only about a dozen went unclaimed. It was really lovely to see everyone and it underscored that I need to plan social events at my house more often.

July 25, 2012

I can't look at my Facebook news feed lately without being incredibly impressed by what my various friends are up to.

First there's Liz Rizzo. Her dream has always been to direct a feature film and that's exactly what she's working on right now. "Missing Miranda" is a romantic comedy which is being supported by a Kickstarter campaign. Judging by the weekly video features, it's going to be amazing! It's worth being a supporter just to get the email updates. I am so happy for Liz and can't wait to see the finished film.

Then there's Kelly Wickham. Where to start? I'll just let her tell it. And as if starting a non-profit, writing a book, getting into a doctoral program, learning to ride a motorcycle, traveling to Alaska and going on TV to be interviewed by Katie Couric weren't enough, she also put out a fire in her neighbor's back yard this week. Damn, woman!

Also part of the same Katie Couric interview is Erin Kotecki Vest, who is impressive in so many ways that it's impossible to keep track. Apparently she has something special planned at BlogHer this year, and I'm very disappointed that I won't be there to see what it is. I'll be keeping a close eye on Twitter, though.

Vicki Boatwright has just launched a fundraiser for her charity Okey's Promise—named for a cat she rescued—which she describes as "a public art initiative designed to create awareness about the connections between animal maltreatment, child abuse and domestic violence." She's making plans for her third public mural.

Last but certainly not least is Mir. When she learned that teen girls at a residential treatment center had to go without basic hygeine items such as tampons and acne wipes, and had nothing but icky, industrial versions of antiperspirant, soaps, hair care products, lotions, etc., she put a call out to her blog readers for donations. Two days later, she'd already received dozens of boxes of supplies. Now all of these girls will not only have nicer things, but they'll know that people care about them.

Then there are all of the people making exciting career changes, moving to different parts of the country, and generally grabbing life by the arm and steering it where they want to go. Over the past several weeks I keep finding myself introducing friends to other friends I know in the cities to which they're relocating.

I'm sure I'm forgetting to mention other forward-looking and fascinating things that people I know are up to, so way to go all of you! Even if I don't see you in person for a while, I'm watching with great interest from afar. Best of luck in all your endeavors!